HOME | DD
Baron-Engel — Experimental Dreyse M1855 Cavalry rifle
#roan #conceptart #firearm #rpggame #sketchdrawing #baronengel
Published: 2015-11-17 23:29:34 +0000 UTC; Views: 3375; Favourites: 73; Downloads: 88
Redirect to original
Description
Doing more research into making firearms for ponies. Particularly for the Roan RPG. Beyond my General Education in college, history was not required for my degree. However since I was studying illustration and was hoping to do historical illustration I took far more history classes than were required. Also I am something of a history nerd so I naturally have an interest in it.When I started to seriously do concept design I found this interest in history was valuable in being able to recreate the feel of different cultures and periods in history. You want Victorian Steampunk I have some idea what the period actually looked like so I can capture some of the flavor of the era. Need 1930's automotive design for your pulp-adventure game I have reference libraries on the subject. Trying to recreate Gerry Anderson "Thunderbirds are Go!" sci-fi? I have researched postwar aircraft designs that Gerry's crew were using for their inspiration.
Also by studying history one can come across the projects that got forgotten. Sometimes they have been lost to time because they really weren't good ideas, but they capture the spirit and mindset of an era. Perhaps they were ideas and concepts that society wasn't ready to embrace or the technology or economics could not support them. Maybe politics or some other form of skullduggery conspired to keep certain design from having their day in the sun. And sometimes someone comes up with an idea that folks just look at and go."What?"
This design looks like it could've fallen in the "What?" category. These are some sketches I did of an experimental M1855 Dreyse cavalry rifle. This rifle came up for auction at James D. Julia while back. link At the time I was starting have dreams in my Equestria dreamscape and my subconscious was start to chew over how ponies might design firearms for themselves. So I grab some reference images for my own digital library. The other thing that is fascinating about it is the fact that it was built in the Mid 19th Century. The Dreyse system, sometimes referred to as the needlefire system, was rather popular in Europe and was one of the most successful breechloading systems around before the rise of the metallic cartridge. The Prussians used Dreyse Needlefire rifles to defeat their enemies and create what would become a unified Germany.
While I don't plan to use a design like this for the Roan RPG, I am curious about it because it would almost work for a pony as it is, and one of the things wanted me to do is design tech that really looks like the ponies designed for themselves. Not just Tommy Guns with hoof triggers.
Related content
Comments: 19
I have to agree, this certainly seems like a more odd weapon. In some respects, it almost looks more like a makeshift lance then a rifle. I think I could see the aesthetic appeal then for ponies.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Yeah when I first saw I went wow!
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Would a FiM pony be able to pull the trigger while maintaining a grip on the pistol grip? I'm sure fans at large have their own idea about how their hoofs work, but the idea I've held to is they have something very much like the universal gripper by iRobot. It's a baloon filled with coffee grounds which can be used to grip and lift objects of all sorts of shapes, no matter how delicate, and even if they have great weight. It can also become harder or softer, which fits with the ability to make clopping hoof sounds despite having a pliable manipulator.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=86G9DL…
The problem is, it can't exert increasing force in a single direction while keeping another portion steady. No ability to variably squeeze like a hand means no conventional lever based triggers. Pulling a trigger would require a more complex design of hoof, which is possible for something highly evolved, or designs which work around the handicap. I find a litter of the former with a lot of the latter to be most interesting. A small squeeze trigger which responds to very subtle force, but only if applied with perfect uniformity from all directions, might work. Or, a trigger which requires the entire pistol grip be pulled, while holding the barrel steady, or vice versa; that would decrease precision of fire, but might be easier to make, and use, and less likely to fail.
Regardless I like the weapon choice for its aesthetics and historical origin.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Well with this rifle design I imagine the if the pony was right handed/hoofed the crutch stock, which would require some modification, is pressed against the shoulder/chest barrel by the pressure applied by the inside pastern of the left front leg. the right hand/hoof would manipulate the trigger. It has been my experience with firing rifles and shotguns that my trigger hand doesn't grip the weapon nearly as firmly as my support hand does. It is primarily my left hand and shoulder to do the bulk of the heavy lifting.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Interesting, that sounds like it could work fairly well. It might also work having a butt stock which loops behind the shoulder, and the off-hand pulls the barrel away from the body, keeping the weapon under tension. The Japanese used a similar bracing method by pulling with the right hand near the cheek, and pushing on the barrel with the left arm straight, which allowed extremely flexible firing of their matchlocks all without a butt stock.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Not only does this makes perfect sense for ponies, but it's so cheap to mass-produce that you wouldn't have a hard time finding a paying customer on the export market.
On the other hand, this rifle looks pretty easy to break and even counterfeit with home-made knock-offs...
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
It's like the very bare skeleton of a gun, isn't it? With a very unusual reload system. Reminds me of a cannon.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Yes it is really a very minimal design for a weapon. Especially for its period, and yes the breech mechanism does remind you of some early breech loading cannons. The system that subconscious has come up with uses an interrupted thread system to speed up the locking and unlocking of the action.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Not only a shooter but hold it right on horseback it would serve as a short lance with the bayonet. Grip at the point were the stock comes down and back you could stab about with it.
After all you got one shot and if in a fur ball of enemies stabbing takes precedence over reloads.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
That reminds me a bit of the old PTRD anti-tank rifles
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
It does have that minimalist/ industrial feel to it.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
breechlock black powder rifle? Wow! Where is the percussion cap? inside the breech block?
Seriously, this isn't a bad design, unless the breech was unable to handle pressures and repeated firings.
After all, it's pre- American Civil War tech. It's an amazing 'what if?' design.
Scale it up and add a huge muzzle brake and you could fire 20-40 mm rounds through it.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
The original Dreyse needlefire system had its primer at the base of the bullet. The bullet acted as an anvil surface. The primer was detonated by a long needle that pierced the combustible paper cartridge and went through the paper and powder strike the primer. This allowed for a much higher rate of fire than a traditional muzzleloader of the era, but the system was not without its problems.
The Prussian continued to use primer at the base of the bullet method which meant the needle was surrounding by the exploding powder during detonation. This led to rapid wear of the firing needles and Prussian soldier usually carried several spare needles to replace in the field as they wore out. Later French needlefires had the primer just inside the back of the paper cartridge so did not experience quite as severe of wear. Although both systems did have the problem of gas leak due to the lack of a rigid cartridge. In the case of the Prussian Dreyse's a rubber gasket was employed to provide a better seal.
Here is a video from Forgotten Weapons about the French system. Also the rifle is much more conventional in appearance. www.forgottenweapons.com/chass… this video has a link to the Prussian Dreyse rifle.
Edit. I stand corrected. The French system used gaskets for gas seal the Prussian system did not.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Here's a slightly more modern version, but this channel has a LOT of interesting guns on it.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtO_qF…
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
It really looks like one for the "what were they thinking?" history books.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
But basic design is not bad. A bit crude but it is obviously a prototype design . A proof of concept piece.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Change the trigger mechanism a bit. Alter the crutch stock so it would be more of a chest rest. Maybe improve the locking action and that could work possibly work for ponies.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
I'm still a fan of the pivoting trigger pull. The physicist in me is growing interest in all this design work.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0